honeymommy

Help our desperate situation please. URGENT.

This is a post I have placed in a immigration forum, but I thought I would post it here as they sometimes take a week or so to reply. This is our problem at present and any help will be great thanks.

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Quick case history..
Husband on H1b wife and 4 kids on H4 have been in Califonia for 6 yrs. 7th yr extension denied (LC is pending 365 days but still denied as they say no LC). Appeal is pending on this extension. Told they can take up to 180 days to make decision..... We are legal till June 4th 2004... Only 5 1/2 weeks left.

We have no savings and a lot of debt. $45,000 and another $20,000 in car loans. We have no late payments or delinquincies...

We do not know what to do.....
Husbands company have talked about a severance package that could ammount to $22,000 and that they may pay shipping and flights. They refuse to put anything in writing so we have no definate promise from them. They are being very evasive and non commital....

So.... We are facing homelessness and unemployment back in the UK. Husband hasn't been able to find a job as yet. I am a nurse and may have to do a return to nursing course before I can seek work and the pay is only about GBP 13,000 a year for me, bearing in mind we have 4 kids 8,8,10 and 13 who need a parent when ot at school.

What we want to know is....

Can we file bancruptcy here in California before we leave the country?

Do we have to be here in California until the bancruptcy is completed?

What happens if we stay here illegally to complete the bancruptcy?

Someone suggested we just leave and don't pay the debts but we are honest people and don't want to do that. Anyway they would eventually trace us and add a load of interest and cost on to the allready high debt. We do however need to make sure we have some sort of stability back in UK...

We are in a desperate situation and any advice would be gratefully appreciated.....

Our immigration lawyer basically has the attitude of wait and see.... She said there was a 75% chance we can stay... that was back in February.... She is also very non commital.....I think she is now lost at what to do also.

We have no money to seek a second opinion and at the present we can only just afford to feed ourselves after the bills are payed....

Any ideas that are serious and sensible?


Thanks very much..

effi

First of all, do not panic. If I were you I would get in touch with the Consulate at the Embassy in Washington. They have things in place to help people in your situation. At the very least they will be able to point you in the right direction and may even pay your flights home if the necessity arises. I am so sorry to hear of your problem. All I can do is wish you good luck and hope that everything works out for you.

Lion in Winter

Sorry to hear about your situation. I know how things like this can happen. believe me. As well as contacting the Consulate, I would talk to a NON PROFIT debt advice organisation such as the one in the link here.

http://www.cccsoc.org/

Don't deal with any commercial "debt reduction" organisations. They are famous rip-off artists. You can talk to your creditors yourself and explain that you have personal hardship, and arrange a payment plan with lower interest and lower monthly payments. Credit card companies do this - not sure about car loans. Don't talk to them until you are sure that this is what you want to do. A payment plan will affect your credit rating negatively too though. From what I know of personal bankruptcy, it is a fairly quick process. After you file, you get the "meeting of creditors" just one month after, where you meet with your "trustee" (the person who handles your case) and any creditors who show up (they usually don't, it seems, for personal bankruptcy). The trustee will decide whether to discharge your debt, taking your assets (salary, house, car, etc.) into account. If the debt is to be discharged, you will get formal notice I think 3 months later. Obviously you have to be here for the meeting, after that I don't know what the legal situation is. Ask the experts. Good luck to you.

Manc

I think you have the creditors over a barrel more than the other way around................
At this point if you are told to leave the country, then I think your creditors are gonna take pennies on the dollar just in the chance that they get something back rather than you just doing a runner.

I would be very cool about it, I mean, it's not your fault that you have to go back to England right? They are the stupid *****ers that lent you money knowing full well your immigration status.

Put the ball in their court and when it's returned, if you don't like their terms, send it back and tell them to try again.

Rockgurl

I don't understand. If you're a nurse, can't you get a company to offer you employment and fund your green card? It should be a much easier process if you are already in the States. You must be able to earn decent money in California. You should be able to adjust status.

mattbutt

If you were here on an H1B which as far as I know is only valid for about 6 years, how the hell did you think you would pay of 60k worth of debt even if the Visa was extended for another year?

Seems like you have built up debt not knowing how you were ever going to pay it ?

Manc

Not if you always assume that the H1B will become a GC eventually, and then it never materialises.

I really think this is a pisser of a situation

effi

Is there no chance that your husbands company would step in and sponsor him for a gc, I know it takes a long time, but would they at least be willing to get the ball rolling?
They were obviously impressed enough with him to bring you all over here and employ him. Do they know of your situation, is there nothing they can do to help?
What kind of work does your husband do. Maybe there is someone on here who might have contacts back in the UK
who could help with work should you have to return. At the very least someone might be able to put you in touch with a couple of companies to contact.

I doubt if you would be homeless on your return. Get in touch with social services and let them know what is going on. I read in the Brit newspapers just at the weekend about how there are supposed to be over 1/4M jobs up for grabs in the UK. Don't know all the details but there is supposed to be some new EU paper which apparently goes into effect on the 1st May to let Europeans come into UK for work. From what I can gather they are lining up in places like Poland etc just waiting to get on the planes. The airlines are even giving them reduced fairs (40 UK pounds) to get over. The only criteria for moving to UK and getting all the benefits is a legal passport. I know it is not that easy, or that things will move quickly once you get home but I am sure that they can help you. Shit, they are letting every man and his dog in right now.

Do you have family in the UK that would be willing to help? God what a mess. I know you are going to get people on here saying "well they knew they might not get an extension, why did they rack up all this debt and not put a plan in place just incase". I guess unless it happens to you, then hindsight is 20/20.

Come on people put your heads together and help one of our own, there but for the grace of God and all that.

honeymommy

Thanks all....

Answers..........
LION IN WINTER
Did contact cccs and were quoted a higher monthly outgoing but payed off sooner as they reduce the interest rate..... If no employment can't pay it anyway.... Thats why we are considering bancruptcy. Just need to know the process....... I do wonder though if we should go ahead with cccs first though... Thanks for the help. I did find a cccs in the UK also... May be worth just doing cccs and seeing if we can transfer it to the UK.... May help us out considering the exchange rate now...

MATTBUTT
(If you were here on an H1B which as far as I know is only valid for about 6 years, how the hell did you think you would pay of 60k worth of debt even if the Visa was extended for another year?

Seems like you have built up debt not knowing how you were ever going to pay it ?)

I didn't post this to be judged... I posted this to get some help... But just to feed your curiosity here ya go....

The answer to this is..... We were told from the onset that green card would be sponsored after 1 year and we would get it in 2 further yrs...... We believed them....... So banking on me working we planned for that to pay off the debt...... The debt was smaller then, but as time went on and we were further let down we couldn't manage and the debt grew.... car's broke down, I had cancer (still have some problems now) so hubby lost pay having time off etc etc..... The tenant in our house in the UK stopped paying her rent and we tried to save the house from reposession took 2 yrs to sort out and then tenant was eventually evicted while we had the house reposessed as we couldn't keep up with the arrears.. OK...

ROCKGIRL
I am an LVN here rockgirl so I cannot get sponsorship.... Only RN's can........ Thats why we were waiting on the GC......

EFFI
The consulate have not been helpful... There is nothing they can do.... I was told that they have hundreds of calls like this and the only advice they give is to get out, go back to Uk and sort everything out from there........

MANC1976
We have considered trying for a payoff if hubby does get the severence package... Hubby is thinking more of using that to get a start in the UK....Rent a house and get a car so we can get back on our feet..... Thing is I see the debt growing if we do not pay....... Oh and thanks for the post about the GC not materialising you hit the nail on the head.... We have 4 kids and have had numerous problems with my health ( had 3 surgeries for cancer in 1st 3 yrs) We arrived with nothing and planning for GC in 3 yrs we went ahead with the credit..... What a dam mess....

I am going to have a phone round and see what advice I can get on the bancruptcy.... Need to know if we can file, stay to sighn papers and have meeting with creditors 1 month later, then leave USA for UK before it is finalised......

Going back to UK I will earn about GPB15,000 a yr as an RN level 2 (Old enrolled nurse) which isn't much.... Plus the twins are only just 8 and need either me to pick them up or childcare.....
Hubby hasn't found anything yet, he is in IT.... Stupid thing is he may find it difficult to get work being overqualified experiencewise and underqualified educationally.... If that makes sense...


I don't know.... Just overwhelming....

Franklin

First off, very sorry to hear about your terrible situation.

Imho, even though you write that you have an immigration attorney and can't afford to get another immigration attorney to take a look at your situation you should seek an experienced immigration lawyer to take a fresh look at your situation ASAP. There are other things that plainly require attention, but the top priority is to seek alternative professional counsel. Does your husband's employer use a good immigration attorney? If so, would they be willing to pay the legal bill?

OK, here’s another suggestion: seek out legal firms or lawyers that do pro-bono work in immigration law …I see that you currently live in California … well … "California now requires law firms doing business with the State to perform a minimum number of hours of pro bono legal services. "Pro bono" is shorthand for the Latin phrase "pro bono publico," meaning "for the public good." It refers to services performed by lawyers or doctors without compensation for impoverished persons or charitable organizations." See, e.g., URL: http://listarchives.his.com/pubklaw-.../msg00031.html

So, if you can find a law firm that does some work for the state of California and which has an immigration practice you might get them to take on your case for free. Good luck with this.

Some simple research might help you to find lawyers or legal clinics that can take a fresh look at your case. For example, some law schools run free legal clinics; ring up your local law schools to find out which offer legal clinics in immigration law. Consider contacting people like Professor Niels Frenzen at USC (University of South California), who seems to be well known in the immigration legal field and who might be willing to advise you on what additional steps you might take or help in referring you to someone who could help you. Good luck with this.

mattbutt

Im not judging, just giving my opinion...best of luck with everthing, one thing you have got though is the fact you have already managed to move and set up from scratch so if you can do it once then why not again?!

Manc

I actually agree with your husband on this one.
It's no good paying off debt in a foreign country when there is no food on the table.

As I said, You have the creditors over a barrel, so don't be too concerned about paying them off quick. Of course they want you to pay it back more amounts and quicker.........
makes sense to them.
However at the end of the day, I pretty much believe that as soon as you are on the plane back to England and you do have some sort of payment plan set up with them, then there is not much they can do.
And if you do a runner, so be it. I wouldn't advocate it, but putting food on the table for 4 kids comes before paying off a couple of cars in USA that can be repossed anyhow.

I presume the $45000 is a mortgage? or is it unsecured credit cards?

Does your hubby have any type of 401k or IRA?

Dave Ramsey regards.
www.daveramsey.com

Gross50

your hubby's employer has a duty to repatriate him back. i'm assuming they paid for you guys to move to the US from the UK. i read somewhere on some immigration forms for firms/employers hiring foreign labour, that they are responsible for getting the employee out of the US. and the company i work for has both a relocation and repatriation policies.

veryfunny

I am really sorry to read of your situation, unfortunately I am not an expert in ways to help you but I do have a question for you.

You stated that your Husband is in the IT field, do you mind saying exactly what field? Java, c++, SAP,Peoplesoft etc.

Have you tried the L1 visa route? if the H1b visa route is not that open?

Well you have over a month, so things can change within that time. The sky is bright and not dark and gray. I hope all works out, keep your head up.

snorkmaiden

Sorry to hear you are having such a crap time HoneyMommy.

As far as bankruptcy goes - won't they take any money you get in settlement off you to contribute to your debts?

As was said above I believe your husbands employer does have to pay for your tickets back to the UK. I am sure I saw that written in our H1b information.